In the course of the Corona crisis, more and more airlines are using normal passenger planes as freighters. For this purpose, they are increasingly using not only the cargo hold but also the passenger cabins. Last week, for example, Lufthansa transported boxes on board an Airbus A330 where passengers once took their seats. For more cargo space outside the usual lower deck, Aegan had all the seats in the passenger cabin removed on an Airbus A320 and an A321.
Even before the outbreak of the coronavirus, the aerospace company Colibri Aero from Lithuania was working on a system that could quickly give passenger aircraft of the Airbus A320 series more cargo capacity. With special sacks, 84 kilograms of goods can be transported per seat. In an A320, up to 180 passengers can be transported, in the stretched A321 even up to 236.
It was supposed to take much more time for the product to be ready for the market, but now the demand is there. In view of the coronavirus pandemic, Colibri Aero has accelerated the approval of the cargo bags and has now received it from the European aviation authority Easa, the company said in a statement on Wednesday (April 1).
